Free Republic

A San Francisco-based wireless company is unabashedly mixing its liberal political activism with business, a strategy that has won the praise of President Obama but not the confidence of marketing analysts. A San Francisco-based wireless company is working liberal political activism into its business plan in a unabashedly partisan marketing strategy that experts say could catch on in today's polarized culture -- but also could alienate many potential customers. The company, CREDO, even boasts that it has the support of President Obama as it markets itself as an agent of social change. It pitches its mobile phone services with a...

Verizon has launched a new ad for the Motorola Droid, "Pretty." Electronista reports, "The new spot directly attacks the iPhone and calls Apple's handset a 'digitally clueless pageant queen,' making fun of its focus on style and even mocking the glass case Apple used to display the phone at its launch in 2007." MacDailyNews Take: Focus on style? Just because iPhone has style, doesn't mean that Apple focuses on it. If anything, Apple focuses on the apps available for iPhone. Something with which, along with style, the brick heavy Droid simply cannot compete. Electronista continues, "It meanwhile thrives on the...

While rumors of a possible Verizon-compatible iPhone in 2010 persist, one analyst has predicted that Apple will instead bring the iPhone to another GSM-based carrier in the U.S.: T-Mobile. In a note to investors released this week, Doug Reid of Thomas Weisel Partners said his firm believes that T-Mobile, and not Verizon, will be the beneficiary when Apple's exclusive agreement with AT&T expires next year... AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone is due to expire in 2010... While the iPhone in its current iteration is compatible with T-Mobile's network, it is not capable of connecting to its high-speed...

BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros' hedge fund increased the value of its holdings by $US2 billion ($2.14bn) over the past three months, boosting his stake in the telecommunications and financial sectors. Soros Fund Management reported holdings of $US6.2bn as of September 30, up from $US4.2bn as of June 30, according to a filing today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr Soros significantly increased his positions in AT&T and Verizon Communications by 3.4 million shares and roughly 4m shares, respectively. Mr Soros now holds 4.2m shares of AT&T, valued at $US113 million as of September 30. The fund owns more...

The leftists are marketing "Credo Mobile" against AT&T and Verizon. Their advertisement asserts that AT&T and Verizon "support politicians opposed to real healthcare reform, like a single-payer system or public option" and that they "fund anti-environment politicians". Who knew? If that's true, support AT&T and Verizon!AlterNet's promotional e-mail tells its followers to "Join the mobile phone company that's fighting for a robust public option in healthcare reform-and hasn't given a cent to Joe Lieberman."

The second half of 2010 could finally bring a much-anticipated Verizon Wireless iPhone. A new hybrid chip developed by Qualcomm makes it possible to communicate with several different network technologies using only one component. This means Apple can manufacture one device, the "world mode" iPhone that will work on all of the networks it's currently compatible with as well as Verizon's CDMA network. Previous reports speculated that Apple would wait until at least 2011 for Verizon's launch of LTE technology.

You've had it. Maybe with AT&T. Maybe with Apple's crushing, dictatorial grip strangling the App Store. Whatever the reason, you're going to Android: Land of freedom, carriers not named AT&T, and the great Google. Here's what you need to know.It's All in the Google Cloud Android phones don't sync with your computer. That's because they don't have to: Your contacts, calendar and mail are all kept up in the great Googleyplex. Unfortunately, Google's Contacts manager, while it's gotten better, is kinda crappy, and all of your Contacts are beamed down to your phone from there.So even after you get the...

Verizon Wireless opened up to us. Verizon Communications Inc. and Motorola Inc. proudly and excitedly showed off their new Droid smart phone in a meeting Wednesday afternoon.First impression: The device is fast, powerful, fully featured and well-designed -- a combination of adjectives we've never used for a Verizon cellphone.When was the last time a Verizon phone got this much hype? The BlackBerry Storm? Ouch.Yet, one is coming on Nov. 6, and it has a good chance of living up to the hype. A phone with Google's fast-improving Android operating system, a 5-megapixel camera with a flash and digital zoom, a...

Motorola and Verizon Wireless on Wednesday unveiled the Droid, a smartphone that will test whether the companies can use software from Google to chip away at the dominance of Apple's iPhone. The Droid, a svelte slider with a full keyboard and an expansive touchscreen, will be available at Verizon Wireless Nov. 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers have to sign up for a two-year contract and data plan. Success of the new phone, which is being launched in a competitive holiday season, is crucial for Motorola, where co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha has placed a heavy bet on...

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency. The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that...

Angry about how a highly profitable corporation like Verizon is threatening hundreds of layoffs, telephone union leaders and some potentially laid off workers held an unprecedented briefing with the staffs of five members of Congress and both Massachusetts senators. The meeting was convened in Senator Kennedy's office at the Boston Federal Building and was attended by leaders of all the Massachusetts IBEW telephone workers' unions. "Despite being a very profitable corporation, Verizon announced it wants to cut 8,000 jobs nationally and as many as 500 jobs in Massachusetts," said Myles Calvey, Business Manager of Local 2222 and Chairman of the...

Unhappy Customer, 79, Grabbed Wheel, Fell in Driveway A 79-year-old Vienna man who was fed up with his Verizon service died after trying to stop a technician's van from pulling out of his driveway. The man, identified by neighbors as William Cornelius, fell after grabbing the steering wheel of the van late Wednesday afternoon and died hours later at a hospital, police said. Neighbors described Cornelius as a former railroad executive who was painfully lonely after his wife died about a year and a half ago. According to Vienna police, the Verizon technician told Cornelius that he had finished working...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Bank of America, Verizon, Chipotle and other companies have pulled advertising from a Sacramento radio station after talk show hosts referred to transgender people as "freaks" with mental disorders. During a May 28 show, one of the three hosts on KRXQ's "Rob, Arnie & Dawn" show said he would hit his son with his shoe if he put on high heels. Another said he would tell a boy he was "a little idiot" if he asked to wear a dress. Officials with Bank of America Corp. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Friday their companies pulled...

... Williams said he attempted to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill and the Verizon operator refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff’s department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay $20 on the phone bill in order to find the man. But deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment. ... “I was more concerned for the person’s life,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his...

It looks like Microsoft is working on a top-secret smartphone deal with Verizon to take on Apple's iPhone. The project's code-name is "Pink." The goal...

(04-09) 16:37 PDT SAN JOSE -- Vandals cut fiber-optic cable lines belonging to AT&T at two locations early today, knocking out phones and access to 911 emergency services to thousands of residential customers and businesses in southern Santa Clara County, in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and along the Peninsula, authorities said. Four AT&T fiber-optic cables in an underground vault were severed shortly before 1:30 a.m. along Monterey Highway north of Blossom Hill Road in south San Jose, police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said. Four more underground cables, at least two of which belong to AT&T, were cut about two...

Anyone who recently moved to another cell-phone carrier from Verizon Wireless might want to check their closing bill from Verizon. To make a long story short, it appears to be Verizon policy to fail to pro-rate the last month when a phone number is ported to another carrier and to charge to the normal end of the billing cycle. Many people probably don't notice this and just pay their last bill without questioning this over-charge. Since Verizon bills for the coming month, in some cases the closing bill should indicate a refund. Without getting into my personal tale of woe...

I used to have Verizon Wireless years ago, but literally had to fight them every month because my bill was always wrong. The would always fight me with some idiot who could not do simple math … just like this. (Go to link to listen to audio)

"Clearwire has a cooperative agreement with Sprint to build a 4G wireless internet network. When it comes online, it would be the fastest wireless internet network in the country. Naturally other wireless companies are working on their own 4G networks too. Clearwire's major competitor in this capacity is Verizon....."

Have you remembered to pay heed to Barack Obama worship services at his inauguration this Tuesday? If you are a Verizon customer you just might be getting an urgent reminder of this sacred duty in the form of a robocall as related by Brian Maloney of the Radio Equalizer: Yesterday, I was all set to write a smug, self-congratulatory post regarding my tremendous wisdom in finally dumping Comcast a few weeks ago for the complete Verizon Fios package, including cable. With Comcrap now establishing an all-Obama channel, isn’t it finally time to make the switch? Sadly, however, Verizon did something...

telecommunications company has confirmed for this columnist that its vice president for policy—who is also an Obama donor and a former lobbyist—is advising Barack Obama’s transition team on telecom policy. Obama’s transition team, which has failed to disclose this executive’s involvement, happens to have proposed a significant change in telecom policy that will profit that very company, called Clearwire. By pushing to delay the long-scheduled transition of television broadcasting from analog signals to digital signals, president-elect Obama is directly aiding Sprint and its partner Clearwire while hurting Verizon. Clearwire’s executive vice president for “Strategy, Policy and External Affairs” is R....

A telecommunications company has confirmed for this columnist that its vice president for policy—who is also an Obama donor and a former lobbyist—is advising Barack Obama’s transition team on telecom policy.

The celebrated openness of the Internet -- network providers are not supposed to give preferential treatment to any traffic -- is quietly losing powerful defenders. Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers. At risk is a principle known as network neutrality: Cable and phone companies that operate the data pipelines are supposed to treat all traffic...

Verizon is slamming extra paid services onto your account. I had to contact customer service today regarding my landline (had to give up VoIP earlier -- that's another story). I also have Verizon DSL, but that was not the subject of the phone call. About an hour after the phone call, I find two email messages pertaining to the DSL account. They stated I had ordered two extra Internet services -- 1) Games on Demand and 2) Security and Backup Bundle. I had ordered neither of these or even mentioned them. They were illegally slammed onto the account. I have...

In 2006, Thailand announced it was blocking access to YouTube for anyone with a Thai I.P address, and then identified 20 offensive videos for Google to remove as a condition of unblocking the site. ‘If your whole game is to increase market share,’ says Lawrence Lessig, speaking of Google, ‘it’s hard to . . . gather data in ways that don’t raise privacy concerns or in ways that might help repressive governments to block controversial content.’ In March of last year, Nicole Wong, the deputy general counsel of Google, was notified that there had been a precipitous drop in activity...

Ok, so here's my predicament: My girlfriend sent a very important email requiring a response within 30 days, and that time period is almost up. She contacted the person who is supposed to be responding and they said they never received the email. She looked in her records and she had accidentally sent it to xyz@vorizon.com, instead of vErizon.com My first thought is that perhaps Verizon owns the vorizon.com domain for that very reason. I called technical support and they said that they don't think it autoforwards. Not a definite "no." ANYWAY, the point of this is, if anyone out...

Verizon Wireless disclosed late Thursday that several of its employees accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cellphone account, and said it planned to discipline workers for the privacy breach. "We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day," the company's chief executive, Lowell McAdam, said in a statement. Verizon said it discovered the unauthorized account access this week and said it related to an account that has been inactive "for several months."

Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, his transition team said Thursday. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the team was notified Wednesday by Verizon Wireless that it appears an employee improperly went through billing records for the phone, which Gibbs said Obama no longer uses. Verizon officials said they are investigating whether the information was sent to anyone outside the company. Some employees at the company had been disciplined Thursday, with the possibility remaining that some would be fired. Gibbs told CNN that he believes the Secret Service...

Apparently the Washington Post thinks it has an ethics violation to hold against Cindy McCain, wife of GOP presidential candidate John McCain. The Post is trying to claim that Cindy McCain somehow illicitly got a portable cell tower delivered to her remote Arizona ranch so that their phones would work there. The truth is, however, the Secret Service ordered up the portable cell tower, not Cindy McCain. Even the words the Post uses to report the story prove somewhat weasely because, as the Post can't find any actual wrong doing, the story relies on vague ways of implying wrongdoing without...

It is rare to hear a note of optimism in the midst of the current financial crisis. But Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg, for one, seems unfazed by problems in the financial services industry or 1,000-point intraday swings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. What enables Seidenberg to stay unconcerned is the relative success of the telecommunications industry, once seen as a disastrous minefield of overleveraged, barely solvent companies. Even with the credit crisis, the telecommunications industry is in better shape than it has ever been in. It is now competitive, relatively flush with subscribers and strategic options. Seidenberg even...

Brenda Smith and her husband became curious last winter about the workers who showed up in their neighborhood around Old Providence Road in Virginia Beach. Without any notice to her, the largely Hispanic crew began digging trenches in her front yard and shoving orange tubing into the ground. She tried to ask them questions, but they didn't speak English. Concerned about the growing number of illegal immigrants in Virginia, Smith decided to find out whether the men in her yard were here legally. She learned they were part of a $23 billion Verizon fiber-optic project intended to bring state-of-the-art television...

In an interview with The Financial Times yesterday, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg had this to say when asked about the competition posed by Apple’s iPhone: “It’s very cool. And Steve Jobs eventually will get old… I like our chances.” That’s got to be one of the most indelicate utterances by one CEO regarding another. Mr. Seidenberg is about a decade older than Mr. Jobs, so he can’t possibly be referring to his age with the most unfortunate “Steve Jobs eventually will get old” phrase. He must be referring to Mr. Job’s frail appearance at the Apple WWDC in June. Apple...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Online forums where thousands of child-porn images have been posted have been stricken from three Internet providers, including two of the nation's five largest, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Sprint agreed with Cuomo to block access to child pornography disseminated through newsgroups and user groups, a hard-to-regulate sector of the Internet designed to bring together users with like interests. With the agreement announced Tuesday, Cuomo skipped over the untold number of individual users accessing child porn and went to the portals that, unwittingly they all say, provided the...

WASHINGTON - Internet users should be free to surf where they want and download what they please. But shouldn't the owners of the networks that make the Internet possible also have rights? That, in a nutshell, is the topic of debate at a special public meeting of the Federal Communications Commission at Harvard Law School on Monday. Recent events involving Comcast Corp. and Verizon Wireless have raised questions about network owners interfering with customer traffic flow. The meeting also is expected to attract a rally on minority media ownership. The session is the agency's most serious public discussion to date...

U.S. and Massachusetts flags that flew with state National Guard troops over in Afghanistan are now at the center of an ongoing labor dispute between Verizon and a union trying to organize workers. Terry Skiest, a Verizon employee and Massachusetts Air National Guard member, said his Acton supervisor ordered that two flags be removed last fall from the outside of his office cubicle and hung less prominently inside his work station.

A software malfunction some time Tuesday night short circuited voicemail service for about 700,000 Verizon customers in California. Unanswered calls just continue to ring rather than switch over to Verizon’s voicemail system. Jon Davies, media representative for Verizon, said the problem started some time during the night and the cause of the glitch has not been determined, nor is there an estimated time when service will be restored. Residents and businesses in Ridgecrest reported having voice mail problems. “We’re working on the problem and hopefully it will not be long before we get to the root cause,” Davies said. “It...

THE LAST TIME Bill Whiting heard his little brown dog, she was screaming in pain as two miserable bastards tortured her. Whiting heard this over the phone as the two monsters demanded money to return the Beagle mix. Her name was Edna, and she was so gentle that Whiting took her to hospitals, where patients cheered up as they petted her. Edna had pointed bunny ears, warm brown eyes and was Whiting's "constant companion" since he adopted her a decade ago. She had never known anything but kindness from human hands. Whiting made sure that Edna always wore her collar....

Boy Seeks Ransom for Dog Missing Since Halloween Saturday, December 08, 2007 Lassie, come home.After his beloved beagle mix, Edna, disappeared on Halloween night, Bill Whiting did what any dog owner might: He offered a reward in posted fliers around the neighborhood and anxiously waited for a call, MyFoxPhilly.com reports. When the phone rang, however, the news was not what he was expecting. "He said, ‘Mister, I got your dog. You don't believe it? You want me to hurt it so you can hear?’ I pleaded with them not to hurt the dog," Whiting said of the caller, one of...

That ringing in Becky Strawn’s ears came from her cell phone bill. Buried in the minutiae was a $9.99 charge for “Premium Features.” When she called her provider, Verizon, to learn what that meant, she was told it was for ringtones. Because she never ordered ringtones, that was news to Strawn, a Kansas City resident. It’s also news to other cell phone users who are learning to their chagrin that they are being targeted by unscrupulous text message spammers and now cell phone “crammers.” Cramming is when mysterious and unauthorized charges show up on your phone bill, courtesy of aggressive...

Washington, D.C. (November 1, 2007) -- Verizon today said it would increase its FiOS High-Definition lineup by fivefold in 2008 to 150 channels. In addition, the telco said it would expand its HD VOD service and launch a "major expansion" of sports and multicultural programming next year. "Once more, Verizon leads the way," Shawn Strickland, Verizon's vice president of video solutions, said in a statement. We launched FiOS TV in 2005 with more HD than most cable and satellite companies, and we know that our HD customers expect us to continue that lead. We're planning a major initiative in 2008...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez solicited $125,000 in charity contributions from Verizon shortly after pushing successful legislation last year that is expected to bring billions to telecommunications firms in coming decades. Less than three months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Núñez's hotly contested bill, Verizon spread holiday cheer to seven of the Assembly leader's designated charities in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $30,000. The contributions all were recorded in state disclosure documents on the same day, Dec. 7, weeks before the new legislation would allow Verizon, AT&T and other telephone firms to obtain statewide franchises to offer cable television programming. "It...

NORFOLK Federal authorities today arrested a Verizon Communications' father-and-son subcontractor on charges of employing and housing undocumented immigrants.The case stems from a May traffic stop on Interstate 264 in which state troopers discovered a van full of illegal immigrants working on a Verizon subcontract digging ditches for fiber optic lines.U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents spent the past five months building a case against B&B Cable and its owners, the Buttery family of Midland in Fauquier County. Robert R. Buttery Sr. and his son, Robert R. Buttery Jr., were brought into U.S. District Court in Norfolk for their first appearance...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two Senators on Friday called for a congressional hearing to investigate reports that phone and cable companies are unfairly stifling communications over the Internet and on cell phones. Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said the incidents involving several companies, including Comcast Corp., Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., have raised serious concerns over the companies' "power to discriminate against content." They want the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to investigate whether such incidents were based on legitimate business policies or unfair and anticompetitive practices and if more federal regulation is needed. "The phone and...

full title:Outrage: Verizon Wireless wants to sell your personally identifiable data: here’s how you can stop this Last week, it was revealed that Verizon Wireless is mailing a notice advising wireless subscribers that if they fail to Opt Out within 30 days, Verizon will begin SELLING their Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) to “third parties and affiliates”. CPNI information includes all the calls you place or receive on your cell phone (along with date, time and call duration). Verizon intends to allow “targeted ads” created by their affiliates sent to your phone.

I have lumped these together as they are symptomatic of underlying interesting issues on corporations vs internet issues: The first is Verizon's definition of unlimited: New York State has given Verizon Wireless a million new reasons understand that the word “unlimited” when used in advertising should mean what it means elsewhere in polite society.The second is a Congressman's comments on Comcast's forging of reset commands to stop BitTorrent legal downloads: "Comcast has made a major mistake in attempting to hinder peer-to-peer file sharing as an aspect of its network management," Boucher said. "The inability of customers to (share files) significantly...

Many North Texas Verizon customers had trouble using their wireless devices Friday afternoon. The company's wireless service crashed affecting most of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

NARAL uses Heavy Pressure Tactics on Internet Provider to Gain Text Service by Hilary White NEW YORK, October 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Under heavy pressure from abortion lobbyists, Verizon Wireless, the second largest broadband provider in the US, will allow the abortion activist organization, NARAL Pro-Choice America to use its service to send text message alerts to customers. The announcement is a reversal of its earlier decision to refuse the request and follows a campaign launched by abortion lobbyists and the New York Times. NARAL had asked for a five-digit "short code" that would allow Verizon customers to receive news...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 28, 2007Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-abortion group is claiming that grassroots activism from its membership resulted in getting a top wireless company to change its policy on allowing its mass text messages to its supporters. However, Verizon Wireless already had the change of policy in the works before NARAL urged its members to contact it.The two had been feuding over the ability of the organization to use its system to send out text messages to its membership with alerts and updates.Verizon initially refused to allow NARAL to use its network but higher officials reversed...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 27, 2007Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Cellular phone company Verizon Wireless and top pro-abortion group NARAL have been feuding over the ability of the organization to use its system to send out text messages to its membership with alerts and updates. Verizon initially refused to allow NARAL to use its network but higher officials reversed the decision.A regional unit of Verizon initially denied NARAL's request to send out text messages to its membership.In an email NARAL sent to its members and obtained by LifeNews.com, NARAL president Nancy Keenan said Verizon deemed NARAL too "controversial" and "unsavory" to...

Saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s mobile network available for a text-message program. The other leading wireless carriers have accepted the program, which allows people to sign up for text messages from Naral by sending a message to a five-digit number known as a short code. Text messaging is a growing political tool in the United States and a dominant one abroad, and such sign-up programs are used by many political candidates and advocacy groups to send...